Sacrilege
by Clara Barton
Summary: Duo had always hated Halloween parties. But maybe he had just never had the right costume before.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: For Ro, who wanted Zechs in lingerie. I cannot ever express my thanks to you for encouraging me and putting up with my dozens of unfinished stories and my emails at all hours about the most random shit and for your friendship. Thank you so, so much.

A/N2: un-beta'd because I finally fucking finished something and wanted to post it and also as a surprise-gift-"see I did something" for Ro.

Warnings: smut, language, sacrilege? Literal sacrilege. Angst. I swear to fuck it wasn't going to happen but at the end it just APPEARED out of NOWHERE and I couldn't… I had to. I'm sorry.

Pairings: Rx5, 1x3, 2x6

 _Sacrilege_

Halloween was awful. Awful in the painful way that only got worse the more Duo drank. Awful in the sense that he was alone, at a party he had been dragged to _very much_ against his own will. Alone and getting drunk but definitely not drunk enough and _alone_ while literally everyone else seemed to be having a roaring good time.

He didn't get it, never had - this passion for dressing up - or down, in most cases very very down to the absolute bare minimum - and drinking and just…

It was weird, and it was awful.

He could still remember the _first_ Halloween party he had gone to, at the tender age of seven. There had been bobbing for apples and some kind of pinata that was vaguely witch shaped and had felt _wrong_ to hit because it was also vaguely Ms. Alexander, his teacher, shaped. The other kids had made fun of him, which Duo was used to, but instead of calling him a girl or a sissy or stupid or short or any of the usual insults, they made fun of his costume. The costume that his mom, who wasn't great at sewing and had discovered a pure and unbridled passion for _gluing fabric_ , had made the night before, when Duo had received the belated invitation to the party. None of the kids knew what he was supposed to be - hell, _Duo_ , didn't really know what he was supposed to be. Maybe a grape or an eggplant or a tumor like the kind that had killed his dad? That's what one of the kids suggested, anyway.

Halloween parties had not improved with time. And they weren't improved _enough_ with alcohol.

Duo had managed to find a window-seat, in what he assumed was the library, of the giant house that belonged to the provost and whose son - the beautiful and kind and so laughably out of Duo's league it was actually not very funny at all, Quatre Winner - had invited Duo to come. He had even sent an escort, in the form of Duo's roommate and Quatre's best friend, Trowa Barton, to make sure he actually _came_ to this party and didn't dodge it like he had the last two years.

His seat was just out of the way enough of the main action that Duo didn't feel overwhelmed, but the library still had people in, still had a few couples making out completely indiscreetly, what looked like a dance battle on the massive desk in one corner of the room, and - the reason Duo had come into the library in the first place - a lively and almost violent argument between two English majors, Relena Darlian and Wufei Chang, over some two hundred year old book that they waved at each other and snarled over. Duo wasn't even sure what they were arguing about - but it was pretty entertaining to sit back and imagine.

Not nearly as entertaining, however, as watching Trowa, dressed up like a pirate - complete with hat and eyeliner and a fake yet strangely animated parrot on one shoulder (Duo was fairly certain it was fake, but Trowa _had_ almost gotten them thrown out of the dorms last year for rescuing a baby racoon and keeping it in their room for two months until it was discovered) - dancing with Heero Yuy, Duo's best friend and the long-time secret crush of Trowa's, dressed up as a cowboy.

Duo wasn't sure which of them had confessed their undying and cringe-worthy because _seriously_ love for each other first, but they were both doing that thing where their lips tried to smile and they tried their best to fight it.

Halloween was awful, but there were a few - maybe more than two even - bright spots. It got people out of their comfort zone - all the costumes, or lack of, and alcohol. Hell, Duo would lay down good money that Trowa and Heero would never be dancing together and looking at each other with that warm and fuzzy and also naked lust kind of look if they weren't also dressed up in ridiculous costumes. And Relena and Wufei wouldn't be arguing about the dusty book - let alone _speaking_ to each other ever since that night freshman year when Rey and Wufei had hooked up at a party and Rey hadn't called him the next day and Wufei spent the next three _years_ vacillating between wondering if there was some way he could convince her to just try dating him instead of holding fast to her 'I'm too young and have too much to do to tie myself down' mantra or irritation over the fact that she had _never called him_ in the first place.

It was as if Halloween was some kind of artificial liminal space - entirely a figment of everyone's brain yet somehow allowing them, encouraging, hell maybe even _forcing_ them to do things they would never do in daylight. And tomorrow, well… tomorrow Rey and Wufei would likely go back to not speaking and Trowa and Heero… that one, Duo didn't know. Because they seriously looked on the verge of just finding a chapel and getting their asses married pronto.

Duo realized that he was probably going to have to make plans to spend the night elsewhere - there was no way that Wufei, Heero's roommate, would do anything but complain if Heero and Trowa went back to their dorm tonight. And as much as Wufei probably _dreamed_ of going home with Relena, Duo didn't really see that happening.

This house was big enough, maybe Quatre would let Duo just… kind of pass out in a corner.

"Or I could take you home."

The voice, a rich, amused baritone that sounded somewhere on the scale between 'creepy voice from a dark shadow' and 'so sexy you might actually come in your pants if I say the right words', made Duo look away from the slow-dancing-their-way-to-marriage couple across the room and focus on the person standing literally in front of him.

Which, awkwardly but not disappointingly, put Duo's eyes directly in front of a bulging, pink satin covered crotch.

A little confused, Duo first looked down - at impossibly long legs encased in fishnet tights and combat boots, then up, past a garter belt and that _seriously_ mouth-watering crotch, and up to a leather corset that covered a muscular torso but absolutely did _not_ cover a pair of seriously sexy tattooed pecs and - _rouged?_ \- nipples.

Duo licked his lips, he couldn't help it, and then he dared to look up even farther.

Big mistake.

The man's face was as stunning as the rest of him. Ice blue eyes emphasized by black eye makeup, wide lips curved in an expression that was somewhere between a sneer and a smirk and covered in glossy dark red lipstick, and a tail of platinum hair that had been styled into some kind of mohawk thing and then left to fall free down his back.

Duo stared. And continued to stare.

And then realized.

 _I could take you home_.

That… sounded like a fucking amazing idea.

Except - it meant that either this walking wet dream could read minds or, tragically and predictably more likely, Duo had been speaking aloud.

Judging by the amusement on sex god's face - yep.

 _Oh fuck._ Duo realized he was _still fucking doing it_.

He cleared his throat.

"Uh. Hi."

Sex god quirked an eyebrow in amusement.

"Hi? After listening to you wax poetic about liminal spaces I was expecting a little more."

Duo felt his face burn.

 _Fucking hell._ How long had he been talking to himself? And how long had sex god been listening?

More importantly, how long had that delicious pink groin been inches from his mouth without Duo even noticing?

"Sorry," he mumbled, apologizing for literally _everything_ from Eve biting into a fucking apple to Duo opening his fucking mouth.

Sex god shrugged one shoulder in a sinuous roll and then sat down beside Duo, crossing his legs casually and leaning back against the windows to look at Duo better.

"I take it you aren't enjoying the party," sex god suggested.

Duo shrugged and finished off the last of his drink - something that tasted like fruit, cinnamon and grain alcohol mixed together and left to ferment in a locker room for about a millennia - and grimaced.

"It's… a Halloween party. Not all that much to enjoy."

Sex god arched his eyebrow again and Duo had the utterly bizarre urge to lick the subtle curve, to swipe his tongue across that patronizing brow.

"I know it doesn't have vaguely shaped pinatas or barrels to bob for apples in, but surely there is _something_ redeeming about it."

Duo was pretty sure that if he blushed any harder he was going to burst a capillary - or a hundred - in his face.

"You, uh, heard that part?"

Sex god's eyes twinkled.

"You aren't exactly _quiet_ when you sit in the corner talking to yourself." He sounded somewhere between amused and charmed.

Duo, on the other hand, was somewhere between mortified and - and whatever was a thousand times more painful than mortified.

"I, uh… I'm Duo Maxwell," he said, apropos of literally _nothing_ but incapable of finding _anything_ to say to sex god.

"And I'm Zechs Merquise." He held out one hand, and Duo reflexively took it, fascinated by the way sex god's hand engulfed his own, by the black nail polish on his elegant fingers, and by the scars Duo saw on the pale flesh of his wrists.

"Zechs." It even _sounded_ like sex. Perfect. Terrifyingly perfect.

"What are you?" Zechs asked.

Duo looked away from their joined hands, forced himself to ignore the pleasant, burning tingle of the touch and the shiver of pleasure that seemed to ripple through his entire body when Zechs rubbed his thumb over Duo's knuckles.

"Uh… junior. Journalism Ethics major. You?"

Zechs was back to arching an eyebrow and his lips were doing the sneer-smirk thing.

"First year doctoral candidate. Geography. But I was asking about your costume?"

"Oh… yeah. Of course."

 _Because who the fuck sat around at a Halloween party in pink satin panties asking what your fucking major was? No one. Literally no one._

"I, ah… I'm a priest?"

It had been a protest choice - all black except for the white dog collar that was seriously itchy as hell and Duo wondered if it felt like to real priests, wondered if it was _supposed_ to? Like some kind of reminder that God was always watching or that life sucked or bodies were flesh prisons?

Quatre had lifted his golden eyebrows in question when he saw Duo, but his lips had instantly curved upwards into that beatific smile that only Quatre could manage and Duo had barely even heard Quatre say he was glad Duo was there because all he was thinking about was how much _warmer_ the world was when Quatre smiled and how good it felt when Quatre gave him a brief hug before stepping aside so he could greet his next guest.

"Mm. And are you taking confessions tonight?"

Duo was finding it really difficult to focus on what Zechs was saying - every time he opened his mouth to speak the lipstick glinted in the light and Duo wondered what it tasted like. Wondered what it would feel like to have Zechs leave a trail of blood red lipstick over his body.

"I... " Duo's brain filled him in on what he had been missing while he fantasized about Zechs's mouth. "Do you… need to confess something? Have you… sinned?"

Zechs was still holding his hand, and he trailed his fingers over Duo's palm and wrist, the nails just barely scraping his flesh, and Duo shivered.

"Mm. Oh yes. Bless me, father, for I _have_ sinned. Are you willing to hear my confession?"

Duo was going straight to hell. Like, literally, _straight_ there - any second a hole was going to open in the floor and Satan was going to reach up and drag Duo right the fuck down there.

His mother still went to mass on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Still guilted Duo into going with her when he was home on break, still gave him that wounded look when he stayed seating instead of rising to take communion, still told him he should go to confession _every time they spoke on the phone_ even though he hadn't been to confession since he was twelve and admitted to masterbating while thinking about Patrick Swayze in _Dirty Dancing_ and had promptly been sent to a summer camp that 'encouraged' homosexuals to renounce their sins.

But he looked at Zechs's sneering smirk and his satin crotch and decided he did not give a flying really, _really_ needed to know what kinds of sins sex god had committed.

"Usually confessions are a little more private than this."

Zechs's lips twitched in amusement and he stood up in a swift, elegant motion, pulling Duo up with him.

"Then let's find someplace a little more private."

Duo let Zechs pull him out of the library, up the ornate and seemingly never-ending staircase to the third - or fourth - or seventh? Duo lost count a few steps into the first flight of stairs because Zechs's _ass_ in those panties was fucking criminal - floor and then down a long hallway, trying doors as he went, peeking in and then closing them until at last he found one he liked and dragged Duo inside.

"Uh…"

They were in a small room, furnished with a bed, dresser and small sitting area that looked like it was from a museum exhibit on loan from Versailles.

"You must know your way around this place," Duo couldn't help but say.

"I'm a cartographer. I have a natural sense of direction."

Duo arched an eyebrow at that and Zechs chuckled.

 _Oh holy fucking fucked. I am_ fucked.

He'd been a sex god before. But now - after that - after that _sound_ he was definitely promoted to Sex God with a capital god-damn S and G because _fuck_.

"I stayed here as a guest when I interviewed for the program," Zechs admitted.

Duo thought it was… pretty damn kinky that Zechs had stayed in the Provost's house, in this _room_ while interviewing to become a student and now he was about to… well. Confess his sins?

Duo wasn't a sex god _or_ a Sex God but he'd had sex and he was something like 65% confident this encounter was heading down that path and 500% okay with that.

"So, uh… about those sins…"

Zechs smirked again, no hint of a sneer this time, and he closed the door and turned the lock.

"Shame I couldn't find the room with a confessional already set up," he said.

Duo laughed, this house had so many fucking rooms and the Provost was _just_ weird enough that honestly there might actually _be_ a confessional somewhere.

"We can improvise," he said and then had an idea. "Kneel with me."

He sank to his knees on the floor and looked up at Zechs. The expression on his face made it clear that Duo in that position was definitely to his liking.

Duo reached over and wrapped his fingers around Zechs's wrist, tugging him closer and down.

Zechs knelt in front of Duo and reached for Duo's other hand, and clasped all of their hands together. It was… kind of erotic but also intimate in a way that Duo hadn't really anticipated. It made his heart stutter, looking over their joined hands and into Zechs' eyes.

"Well?" Zechs prompted after a moment of Duo trying not to drown.

"Oh. Right. Uh, how long has it been since your last confession?"

Zechs snorted.

"Maybe sometime in a past life," he muttered and Duo had to smirk.

"Then I'm sure you have a _lot_ to atone for. Tell me your sins."

It definitely wasn't the catechism - but Duo was completely okay with that. The _less_ this felt like _his_ last confession, the fucking better.

Zechs offered up another sneer-smirk.

"Where to start… I've had impure thoughts, father."

"What kind of impure thoughts?"

Zechs's fingers started to trace over Duo's hands, making small circles that sent literal shockwaves through Duo's body.

"Lustful thoughts. About a gorgeous, blue-eyed man with long hair and lips made for sucking my cock."

"That… sounds very impure," Duo managed to choke out. The intensity of Zechs's gaze and the words he had said left Duo struggling to breathe much less formulate rational thought.

He glanced down at Sex God's satin covered cock, at the shapely bulge and _fuck_ he wanted it.

"Yes," Zechs sighed, sounding _almost_ apologetic. "But there's more."

"Tell me," Duo begged.

"I think about more than fucking that perfect mouth." Zechs hands trailed away from Duo's, leaving Duo's hands clasped together while Zechs smoothed over Duo's sleeves and across his chest, fingers coming to a stop on the top button of Duo's black shirt. "I think about his body." Zechs started to undo the buttons, fingers glancing over Duo's skin as he worked his way down and it was all Duo could do to hold still, his hands gripped together like he was holding onto the last shred of his self-control. "About stripping him bare and mapping his chest with my cum."

 _Dear fuck_. Duo was pretty sure he was going to come himself, just listening to Zechs 'confess.'

Already his dick felt painfully erect, trapped in his tight black pants and _aching_ for attention.

Zechs pushed Duo's shirt open, tugging it free from his pants and then running his hands over Duo's bare flesh.

Duo shivered.

"W-what else?"

Zechs smirked yet again and his nimble fingers moved to Duo's belt, slowly, tauntingly, easing it free.

"I think about taking his cock in my hand and making him beg for release. I think about tasting his cock and his come and hearing him call _me_ God."

Zechs squeezed Duo's erection through the thin fabric of his trousers and boxers and Duo moaned and arched up into the touch.

"Fuck, yes," he breathed.

"Fuck? Oh, I think about that too," Zechs laughed.

He unfastened the fly of Duo's trousers and encouraged Duo to rise up on his knees. Zechs pushed the trousers and Duo's boxers down to his knees, exposing Duo's demanding cock to the chill air and Zechs's heated gaze.

"Mm. Yes, I think about fucking his ass." Zechs wrapped one hand around the shaft of Duo's cock and Duo gasped in surprise and relief. Zechs's other hand circled Duo's left hip, curving around and squeezing first one and then the other cheek of his ass. "Fuck, yes, indeed," Zechs crooned as he moved his hand over the length of Duo's cock.

Duo made a sound, some kind of mewling, begging sound that was absolutely humiliating and he was confident he would have died on the fucking _spot_ if Zechs hadn't leaned forward immediately and stopped him from making any more sounds like that by kissing him.

It felt like Zechs was going to consume him - he was so much larger - his mouth, his hands, his body, his _heat_ \- and Duo did everything he could to fight to stay alive, kissing Zechs back with all of the strength and vigor he could manage, surging forward to meet him and thrusting his cock into Zechs's hand.

Zechs chuckled and Duo took the chance to catch Zechs's lower lip between his teeth, sucking on it until Zechs moaned and the hand on his ass curled into his flesh and hauled him even closer.

Zechs continued to stroke his cock, and Duo continued to unabashedly try to fuck his hand.

Duo released Zechs's lip and thrust his tongue into the other man's mouth, seared by the heat, desperate for more. Zechs's tongue tangled with his, thrusting back and _fuck_ it was glorious. Duo didn't even know if they were fighting - didn't know if Zechs was trying to control things or just match him and Duo didn't care. It felt so fucking amazing and this was the best fucking kiss of his life.

But then Zechs pulled away, leaving both of them panting, gasping for air, eyes glazed and chests heaving.

"Beg," Zechs growled.

"What?" Duo whimpered again when Zechs twisted his hand, increasing the pressure on the underside of Duo's cock and it felt like a damn lightening bolt went straight to his balls. "Do that again, please."

Zechs sneered and did and again, Duo whimpered, made that fucking _sound_ that should _not ever_ come from his lips.

"Yes," Zechs groaned. "Beg me."

 _Oh. Right_.

It felt incredible, what Sex God was doing to him, and Duo could feel his body desperately rushing towards orgasm and he _really_ fucking wanted to come. But being told to _beg_ went straight to that part of Duo's brain that hated authority, that had led to him spray painting _No War_ on the principal's door when he was in middle school and they had announced that military recruiters would be coming to give a presentation, the same part that had made Duo walk out of the prom planning committee in high school when he was told that his classmates only wanted _wholesome_ couples in history represented by their stupid fucking theme and _no_ , Lancelot and King Arthur weren't wholesome.

Zechs's eyes narrowed as Duo remained silent and his hand stilled.

 _Oh fucking no fucking way!_

Duo screamed at himself and he and Zechs glared at each other for a long moment.

"Please," he finally ground out, gritting his teeth together so hard his jaw hurt.

"Please _what_?"

"Make me come." It was less begging and more demanding, but Zechs's lips curled upwards again and his hand tightened on Duo's cock, stroking him harder and faster than he had before.

His other hand lingered over the cleft between Duo's cheeks, slowly, tantalizing moving lower.

"Yes," Duo encouraged him. "Yes, _please_." He was sounding less commanding and more pleading with every heart-beat and Zechs was looking more and more pleased with himself.

Zechs' index finger circled the tight ring of muscle at Duo's entrance and he whimpered again, _aching_ to be touched, to be filled.

Zechs removed his finger and Duo groaned in protest. Protest that instantly evaporated when he saw Zechs put the finger into his own mouth and then pull it out, dripping with saliva.

Duo practically _crawled_ into his lap when Zechs pressed the wet finger against him again.

"Tell me how you like to be fucked," Zechs said, his voice rough.

"I… I… ughnn, _fuck_ , please. Please."

Zechs was doing that thing with his wrist again, was sending sparks to Duo's balls and Duo was so fucking close.

The finger circled Duo's anus and then pushed into him. Duo finally had to abandon his clasped hands posture and instead gripped Zechs's shoulders, holding on for dear life because his body felt like it was going to combust, felt as if Zechs's touches scorched him to the very core.

"Tell me," Zechs insisted. He slid his finger deep into Duo's body, curving it and pressing forward and Duo saw stars.

"Tell me how you want me to fuck you. Do you want it slow or fast? Do you want me to be gentle or do you want me to pound into your ass so hard you can't even breathe?"

"Yes, fuck, yes, yes. Please, please, please just - oh! _Fuck_ \- fuck, _Zechs - fucking God!"_

Duo came with such intensity, gripped Zechs's shoulders so hard that he was pretty sure he broke the skin and Zechs's just looked at him with an expression that was somewhere between worshipful and ravenous.

The world practically exploded, Duo's vision going a little white at the edges and his blood feeling like vodka. Duo felt tears prick at his eyes and his throat tighten and the _world_ felt right and pure and _empty_.

It took him a few minutes to come back down, to remember his own fucking name and realize that Zechs no longer had a finger up his ass or his hand on his cock but was instead holding Duo against him and rubbing his back in soothing circles.

"I, uh," Duo had to clear his throat and he forced himself out of Zechs's arms, as much as he wanted to do nothing more than bury himself, to tuck his neck under Zechs's chin and breathe in deeply and feel his heat and strength.

Zechs was looking at him strangely, the sneer and the smirk gone, his eyebrows drawn together in a look of concern and Duo felt his face turn red.

 _A stranger gives you a life-altering hand-job and you completely lose your shit and freak him the fuck out. Good fucking job, Maxwell._

Par for the course, really. Duo fucked up everything he touched - of course he couldn't be trusted to let a little Halloween party kinky sex turn out well.

"Sorry. I… fuck." Duo ran his hands through his hair, scrubbing at his eyes as surreptitiously as he could.

"Come here."

Duo dropped his hands away from his face and saw that Zechs was still on the floor, had shifted so that he was sitting on his ass instead of kneeling, and his arms… were open. Inviting.

Duo was tempted. He was _so_ fucking tempted. And desperate.

But he also…

 _For fuck's sake. It's a fucking Halloween party. How the fuck are you losing your shit? You had two fucking drinks and one fucking hand job and now the world feels beyond broken or more perfect than you imagined and fucking -_ fuck.

"I'd like to hear more about artificial liminal spaces," Zechs said, his voice soothing.

Right.

The shit Duo had been talking to himself about, out loud, while he sat alone in a corner.

"Please," Zechs added, and the way his lips formed around the word made it very clear that he didn't say it often.

He reached out with one hand, stretching, and Duo hesitated but then fit his hand into Zech's and allowed the other man to tug him close, allowed himself to sit in his fucking lap and rest his head against Zechs's chest.

Duo listened to the steady drum of his heart.

"Why do you have butterfly tattoos?"

His question startled a laugh out of Zechs.

"I don't," he said after a moment, amusement tinging his voice and arms tightening around Duo. "They're fake. I thought it would round out the costume - I _wanted_ skulls and a grim reaper but the store was sold out. All they had left were butterflies, so I decided to make it work."

"Pretty sure you could have made anything. You could make a Barney tattoo look sexy."

Zechs laughed again and Duo really, _really_ liked the way it sounded, the way it felt.

Zechs ran his fingers down Duo's back, pushing his shirt up so that he could trace Duo's spine and Duo let himself relax into the touch and just _exist_.

"What happens next?" Zechs eventually spoke up, his hand still drawing patterns in Duo's skin.

"Uh…" Duo sat up, taking the hint. "I, uh, do you want me to leave first so you can -"

Zechs pulled Duo back against him.

" _No_. What happens next for my confession. I've told you my sins. Well, a _few_ of my recent ones. What happens next?"

"Oh." The relief Duo felt was a little overwhelming. "Your penance."

"And what is that?"

"Depends on the sin. And the sinner." Duo shrugged. Father Mulson had told him to say twelve Hail Marys, had listened to Duo rush through them in fear and relief and sent him on his way and then picked up the phone and called his mother and Duo had never really been able to trust _anyone_ again after that. Had never even been tempted to step in a confessional booth since.

"Well. I _am_ a prolific sinner. But I'm not sure my sins are all that unforgivable. Or that I want to be forgiven. Especially since I'm already tempted to sin again."

Duo snorted a laugh and then looked up to see that Zechs was smirking down at him, the expression surprisingly tender.

"If that's the case, a few Hail Marys or Our Fathers probably won't do the trick. Maybe…" Duo was pushing his luck, was delusional to think Zechs would be interested. "Maybe you should go visit a holy relic or… a shrine."

"A shrine?" Zechs frowned in confusion.

"Yeah. You know, I'm actually thinking about making one."

"Making what?"

"A shrine. There's this Sex God who really, _really_ deserves one. Only trouble - I need a phallus for the centerpiece because, well, you know. _Sex God_. Think you could help me out with that?"

Zechs lips twitched.

"If you're suggesting my penance is to let you use my cock to _worship_ me, then I hope you realize that I'm going to sin a _lot_ more."

"I was kinda counting on that."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So Downwardspiral (on tumblr) drew this AMAZING pic of Zechs in costume and asked for more in this fic and, frankly, there is NO way I can turn down that kind of request when someone goes and draws something GORGEOUS. So. Here's some more of these sexy dudes.

A/N2: Endless thanks for the endless patience and encouragement from Ro. And the beta reading. SO much thanks for the beta reading.

Warnings: angst, language, sex

Pairings: 6x2, 1x3, Rx5, Qx?

 _Sacrilege_

With his earbuds shoved _painfully_ far into his ears and his shoulders and head hunched so far over his desk and the open _Journalism Ethics_ textbook on his desk, Duo could _almost_ block out the sounds and sights of Heero and Trowa doing _way_ more than just making out on Trowa's bed on the other side of the dorm room.

They had already been kicked out of Wufei and Heero's room - two days in a row of Heero and Trowa apparently being attached at the hip, mouth, hand and any number of other locations had apparently been Wufei's limit, and the two had shown up an hour ago, groping each other even as Trowa opened the door to the room, ignoring Duo completely while they stumbled through the room and onto Trowa's bed.

They had stopped, once they came up for air and realized Duo was in the room, and the most _bizarre_ and awkward conversation had followed, lasting for almost half an hour, before Duo noticed Heero's hand start to creep over Trowa's thigh. So Duo had shoved his earbuds in, cranked up his music, and turned around.

There was an in-class essay-exam in his ethics class the next day - his professor believing that, as aspiring journalists, they should have to write perfectly on the fly - and Duo had the textbook open, as well as his notes, his laptop and a stack of highlighted case studies and handouts.

He was in full panic mode, and the groans he heard, coupled with the flailing limbs he glimpsed out of the corner of his eye, weren't helping _at all_.

They weren't helping because it was distracting as _fuck_. But also, well, also they were a pretty _loud_ reminder of the debacle on Halloween, still fresh in Duo's mind only three days later. Hell, it would probably be fresh for all _eternity_ because what the _fuck had he been thinking?_

He'd had an incredible, earth-shattering _hand job_ \- just a _fucking hand job!_ \- from Zechs, the Sex God, and he'd fallen to pieces and let the blond haired man _hold_ him, and then…

And then there had been a loud and rather terrifying crash from downstairs, and they had rushed down to see that some idiots were _surfing_ down the fucking stairs and, well, that had been the end of the party. Quatre had turned from glowing, delicate and gorgeous to thunderous and terrifying in an instant, and the partygoers had melted away - or fled - before his aquamarine glare skewered them.

Zechs had moved to help Quatre kick out the more drunk and disorderly miscreants, while Duo's instincts had kicked in and he had fled because _what the fuck had he just done?_

Three days of thinking about Zechs, of that fucking hand job, of his fucking smirk, of his eyes and his satin panties and his sculpted torso and the way he had looked at Duo, the way he had touched him and held him, and it was _terrifying_ that Duo had so quickly become so vulnerable and wanted so, so much more than that- what? _Hour_? It hadn't been long enough. And, at the same time, it had been _way_ too long.

Someone made a sound - Duo thought it was Trowa, but he sure as hell hoped it was Heero because Duo did _not_ need to think about that sound in relation to his roommate - that was between a moan and a growl, and that was _it_ for Duo.

He crammed as much of his crap as he could into his backpack, grabbed his laptop, shoved his phone into his pocket and stepped back into his shoes, not even bothering to lace them.

"Please don't have sex on my bed," he snarled over his shoulder as he slammed the dorm room door closed behind him and stormed out.

He was out of the dorm room and halfway across campus, shivering in the chilly November night air, shoulders braced against the wind and berating himself for not grabbing a sweater or _something_ to put on over his t-shirt, before he decided where to go.

It was almost eleven, which meant the coffee shop across the street Duo favored was already closed. It also meant that the study lounge in the Mass Comm building was closed. The only place on campus that was still open was the library study lounge.

Not his favorite place, considering that it was almost always packed - a _hint_ that admin should really consider opening more than one twenty-four hour study lounge _sometime_ this century - but it was better than hiking the half-mile to the nearest Waffle House. Especially considering Duo's t-shirt and the Waffle House's spotty internet.

So, he hefted his bag, wiggled his feet around until they were in his shoes better, and resigned himself to a really shitty night.

He ducked his head to avoid the wind stinging his face and glared at his sneakers as he made his way across campus, every frigid step a reminder that he was an idiot, that Heero and Trowa owed him, and that he was an idiot.

By the time he made it to the library, wrenching the outer door open with enough force to combat the wind _and_ demonstrate his frustration with the _world_ , he was cold and cranky and not paying any attention to where he was going.

No sooner had he stepped through the massive metal door before Duo collided with something equally solid.

"Damnit."

An avalanche of books rained down on Duo, and he dropped his laptop as he tried to protect himself from them.

And then he realized, because he was an idiot and because the world fucking _hated_ him - that the solid object he had run into wasn't just a tower of library books, but a man holding them.

A familiar man.

With blond hair and a sneer.

And clothes, which was new.

And glasses, which was also new.

"Zechs?"

The sneer twitched a little.

"Duo."

"I, uh… what are you doing here?"

Zechs arched an eyebrow and cast a glance at the array of books on the floor between them.

Duo flushed. Right. Of course. It was a _library_.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and knelt down to start gathering up the books.

Zechs joined him on the floor, on his knees and not even two feet away, and _stop thinking about that fucking hand job_.

Their fingers touched as they both reached for the same book, and yep, still felt incredible just to touch Zechs's skin.

 _Still a fucking idiot_.

Duo jerked his hand away and instead reached for his laptop, letting out a relieved sigh when it appeared undamaged. It looked like it had landed on top of two books.

"You disappeared."

Zechs was back on his feet, books stacked in front of him like armor or a weapon - maybe both - and Duo looked up at him.

Huh.

This was _definitely_ a position he had been fantasizing about.

Of course, in his fantasies, Zechs hadn't been wearing glasses, or a cardigan, t-shirt and jeans. Or a scowl.

Duo was okay with the glasses, they were sexy as hell. But the rest, he definitely could have done without.

"I… yeah. I did."

Zechs arched an eyebrow, and Duo decided he should really stand up.

He wasn't, after all, some supplicant kneeling at the altar of Zechs.

 _Not yet, anyway_.

And probably not ever, judging by the look on Zechs's face and the chill in his words.

" _Why_?"

Zechs sounded pretty pissed, and Duo realized, as he looked him in the eye and shivered at the emotion he saw, that Zechs was _hurt_. Duo taking off had done more than irritate him.

 _Well, shit_.

"I, uh, well… I panicked. There was a lot going on, and I, well, you know - you were fucking _there_. I lost my shit and I was embarrassed, and I just… took off."

"Hoping to never see me again."

"Yeah. No- _no_. I mean. Fuck. I just…" Duo ran a hand through his hair.

This was _not_ how he had wanted tonight to go. Certainly not how he _needed_ it to go.

"Look. You're hot as hell. You- you're a fucking sex god and you _know_ it. I'm just… a fucked up idiot with a lot of studying to do, and Halloween was like… maybe the best thing that's happened to me in… a long, long fucking time, but I just- I mean, you should be fucking _relieved_ that a fucked up idiot like me ran away instead of hanging around."

Duo sucked in a deep breath. He'd said too much - definitely not a first for him - and he was pretty sure that if he looked at Zechs's face again he would see disdain and disgust.

"What are you studying for?"

The question caught Duo completely off-guard, and he looked up at Zechs with a frown.

"What?"

Zechs was doing the sneer-smirk again, and it was doing funny things to Duo's belly.

"You said you had a lot of studying to do. What are you studying for?" Zechs repeated the question slowly, patiently.

Duo adjusted his backpack.

"Exam in my Journalism Ethics class. If it's anything like the midterm, half the class is going to end up crying and staring at their blue books for two hours while the other half tries to fight the TAs off when they collect the damn things."

Zechs's lips twitched.

"Which half are you?"

Duo sighed and shrugged.

"During the midterm, I was the second half. Tomorrow… I might be the first half. My roommate and his… I don't know, _soul mate_? are trying to turn our dorm room into a porn studio or something, and I just really need to _study_."

Zechs raised an eyebrow.

"And you came to the _study lounge_?" He looked over his shoulder, at the open door to the twenty-four hour study lounge, and Duo had to cringe.

Even just standing out here, it was obvious that it was packed. Obvious that _studying_ was not exactly a priority judging by the volume level.

Duo sighed and nodded dejectedly.

"Well. Good luck with that."

Zechs started to walk past him, and Duo felt as if all of the wind had been knocked out of him.

 _That's_ it _? All that - everything on Halloween, and now Duo making an ass of himself again, and all Zechs can say is '_ Good luck with that'?

"Unless."

Duo turned around to see Zechs propping the library door open, a speculative look on his face.

"Unless?" Duo echoed stupidly.

"Unless you want to take me up on the offer I made on Halloween."

Duo frowned.

 _What the hell was he-_

 _Oh._

 _Right._

Zechs had offered to take Duo home. It had been the first thing Zechs had even said to Duo, after presumably listening to him talk to himself like a psychopath for who the fuck knew how long.

"I… seriously?"

Zechs shrugged one shoulder.

"I can guarantee my apartment is more quiet than that hellhole," he nodded towards the study lounge. "And, if you want, I can promise not to try to turn it into a porn studio."

Duo felt his face turn red.

Zechs clearly loved turning Duo's own words around on him.

Of course, before, Duo had been complaining about Trowa and Heero.

Now, though… Now, all Duo could think about was giving Zechs a blowjob while the blond haired man filmed it.

 _Get a fucking grip, Maxwell_.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to think of the time he had accidentally walked in on Sister Helen in the bathroom at the church as a kid.

"You really don't mind?"

Zechs arched an eyebrow and sneered again.

"I rarely do things I don't _want_ to do, Duo. If I minded, I wouldn't have offered in the first place. Or the second place."

Duo found that very easy to believe.

"Okay. I guess… yeah?"

Zechs smirked a little, his expression brightening so much that Duo was reminded of Halloween, and his brain started going down dark and dirty paths all over again.

And then Zechs frowned.

"You don't have a jacket?"

"No. I was kinda in a hurry to get out- What are you doing?"

Zechs set his stack of books down and started to unbutton his cardigan.

Duo watched, completely unable to look away from the play of Zechs's muscles as he pulled off the sweater and revealed his lean arms in just a long-sleeved t-shirt.

"Here."

Zechs held out the cardigan and Duo just stared at it.

"It's cold outside." Zechs sounded impatient.

"I know?"

"It's about a ten minute walk to my apartment."

"Oh." Duo frowned. "Won't _you_ be cold?"

"I'll be fine. Take my sweater."

Duo shrugged.

"I'll be fine too. Keep it."

Zechs's eyes narrowed.

"Take the sweater. I don't want to listen to you complain about being cold for ten minutes when you could just put it on now and save me the irritation."

Duo felt his hackles rise at the words.

"Keep the sweater. I don't want to have to listen to you tell me what a hero you are for sacrificing your sweater just so I can be warm for ten minutes."

Zechs glared, and Duo was pretty sure the invitation to come over and study was about to be revoked.

"Fine."

Zechs draped the sweater over his arm and picked the books back up.

Apparently 'fine' meant they would both be fucking cold.

"Fine," Duo agreed.

Zechs nudged the door open with his ass, and held it open for Duo.

Duo wanted to roll his eyes, but he forced down his innate defiance and instead walked back out into the cold night air.

-o-

As it turned out, the ten minute walk was spent in silence.

With each step, Duo waited for Zechs to tell him to forget it and just fuck off.

But he didn't.

When Zechs veered towards an old brick warehouse, Duo had to hesitate.

"Are you about to murder me?" he asked, when Zechs looked over his shoulder and saw that Duo had come to a stop.

"No. The hypothermia will probably finish you off, in any case."

Duo glared at him, but Zechs just smirked.

"You, uh, live in a warehouse?"

Zechs frowned, looked at the warehouse, and then back at Duo. He chuckled.

"It's been renovated - used to be a textile factory, and now it's just a bunch of studio apartments."

"Oh."

Duo felt like an idiot, nothing new there, and cautiously followed Zechs inside the warehouse.

It was warm, and it was bright.

And, just as Zechs had said, had clearly been renovated.

Duo followed Zechs up two flights of stairs and down a short hallway before Zechs came to a stop beside a door.

Zechs wedged his books between his hip and the door jamb, and fished in his back pocket for his keys.

Duo watched, biting back the urge to offer to do it for Zechs.

The other man finally retrieved them and unlocked the door. He let it swing open and then stepped inside.

Duo paused, wondering if, all jokes about murder and death aside, this was still a really bad idea.

But then Zechs flicked on a light and called out to him.

"Lock the door behind you. There's a guy two apartments down who gets drunk and thinks he lives here."

"Great neighbors," Duo muttered, but he stepped into the apartment and closed and locked the door behind him before looking around.

It was bigger than Duo's dorm room, but it wasn't huge. The concrete floors, brick walls and huge windows were about the only thing that resembled a warehouse. The open kitchen looked well-equipped, and the furniture - from the bed that dominated one wall to the 1950s style metal and vinyl kitchen table and chairs to the desk, chair and computer against another wall - all looked modern and expensive.

Duo arched an eyebrow at Zechs.

"How much are the graduate stipends worth? I have _got_ to get myself one."

Zechs chuckled, and set his books down on the floor beside his desk.

Duo watched him stretch and flex his arms and realized the books must be heavy as hell.

He also realized that he had a free hand and definitely could have volunteered to help Zechs carry them.

"The stipends are pathetically small," Zechs assured him.

Duo nodded and looked around again.

That meant Zechs was rich. Rich and sexy and _why_ was he wasting time with Duo?

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

Zechs moved into the kitchen.

"No, I'm okay. Thanks. I- thanks for inviting me over."

Zechs pulled out a beer from the fridge and twisted off the cap.

He smirked at Duo again.

"My pleasure."

The look he sent Duo's way was pure heat, and Duo shivered.

 _Fuck me_.

 _Seriously. Please. Fuck me._

Zechs nodded towards the laptop in Duo's hands.

"You can use the kitchen table to set up your computer, if you want."

"Oh. Right. Thanks."

Because he was here to _study_. And not study every inch of Zechs's naked body, but to study for his Ethics exam.

 _Focus, Maxwell_.

Duo sat down at the kitchen table and started to unpack his things.

To his surprise, Zechs sat down across from him, snagging Duo's textbook and flipping through it.

Duo was a little mesmerized by Zechs's fingers, remembering how they felt, wondering just how talented they really were.

"Anything I can do to help you study?"

Since _turn into an ogre and stop reminding me that you're a Sex God_ wasn't _really_ something Duo could say aloud, he just shrugged his shoulders.

"No, I need to review the case studies." Duo sighed. "He usually makes up some bogus scenarios and then has us explain _why_ the situation is total bullshit, and we have to reference as many case studies as possible and then give an example of what would make the case actually useful."

Zechs's lips twitched.

"Your favorite class, I'm guessing?"

Duo shrugged again.

"It's okay. I dunno. I _like_ it. But it's just… It's a little frustrating reading about these assholes who are involved in some seriously fucked up shit play the fucking victim because they decide to come clean and like… What? I'm supposed to feel bad that they've got their millions of dollars of blood money to fall back on but because they ratted out their bosses now they won't make enough to buy a private island?" Duo shook his head. "Or you get the shit about journalists not following through on background, and it's just… It's all frustrating sometimes. There's just a _lot_ of bullshit."

"Why do you want to major in it, then?"

Duo sighed.

"Because… because it matters. Despite all of the bullshit. No, _because_ of all the bullshit. It's like… did you ever read _The Jungle_?"

Zechs frowned.

"Upton Sinclair?"

Duo nodded.

"Yeah. I read it in middle school - I used to _live_ in the public library, and one of the librarians got frustrated when I kept asking her for more action hero books and told me to read it. She was just messing with me - or maybe she wasn't. I dunno. But it… I mean, he changed _America_ with that. He saved lives, he brought an entire industry to its knees, and I just… Knowledge is power, you know?"

Zechs had a strange, soft expression in his eyes that made Duo squirm.

"Alright," Zechs said, and took a long sip of his beer. He flipped the book open to a random page. "Tell me about Timothy McVeigh's confession."

Duo lifted his eyebrows.

"You… really want to help me study?"

Zechs gave him a patronizing look.

"We've been over this," he said. "If I didn't want to help, I wouldn't."

"Right. Right. Sorry. I just- Nevermind. Timothy McVeigh."

-o-

It was after two when Zechs flipped back to the front index and smirked.

"That's all of them."

"What, seriously?" Duo grabbed the book back and looked at the table of contents himself. It felt like there were _hundreds_ of cases in there - thousands, even. But Zechs was right. Duo had described all thirty-odd case studies.

"I thought I'd be going over these until my eyeballs bled," he mumbled.

In reality, he hadn't even needed to consult his notes - hadn't even cracked his laptop open. Instead, he'd been able to tell Zechs about every single case, giving him enough snarky details to make Zechs smirk or sneer, even chuckle a few times. And, on top of that, Duo felt… good. He felt confident. He _knew_ this. He wasn't going to be left staring blankly at the blue book and crying tomorrow.

Zechs arched an eyebrow.

"Did you want to go over them again?" He was on his second beer, and at some point had grabbed a bag of pretzels and waved them in front of Duo's face until he took a handful just to appease him and angrily munched on them.

"No," Duo said after a moment's hesitation. "I actually feel really good about it. I think… this really helped. I appreciate it."

Zechs finished off his beer and rose from the table.

Duo watched him cross to the other side of the kitchen and toss the beer into a recycling bin.

"Like I said before, my pleasure."

 _Pleasure_.

The way Zechs said the word made it perfectly clear that Zechs was in no way referring to a joy for studying.

Duo swallowed hard, and he felt his palms tingle.

Before he could say or do anything, however, a yawn caught him completely off-guard.

It was the jaw-splitting, ear-popping kind, and Duo blushed when he saw how amused Zechs was by the performance.

"I, um…."

Zechs smirked.

"Three in the morning isn't usually when I do my best work," he said with a shrug. "Maybe we can turn my apartment into your porn studio another time."

Duo flushed even more. Zechs seemed to have an uncanny skill in making Duo turn red.

He decided, all in all, that discretion was the better part of valor - or whatever - and he started to gather up his notes and books.

Zechs frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"Um… packing up my stuff?"

"Stay the night."

It was Duo's turn to frown.

"But you just said-"

"I'm perfectly capable of sharing a bed with you even if I don't fuck you every way I've dreamed about doing first."

That had Duo blushing _yet again_.

It was good to know he wasn't the _only_ one who had been dreaming about it.

"Every way?" he repeated, unable to stop himself. "Just how many ways are we talking about?"

Zechs smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.

"That depends," he drawled. "Are we limiting the discussion to the ways I want to fuck you in my bed, or in general?"

Duo's mouth went dry.

Despite the fact that it was three in the morning, despite the fact that he was fucking _exhausted_ , if Zechs suggested going even _one_ round right now, Duo would happily comply.

Before he could even think of _begging_ to try out _at least_ one way, Duo yawned again.

Zechs chuckled and walked over to him. He took Duo's hand and tugged him close.

"Spend the night with me."

It was _almost_ not a command.

"Only if you let me buy you coffee in the morning."

Zechs's lips twitched, but he reached out and tucked a strand of Duo's hair behind his ear.

"Fine. But you have to give me your phone number. In case you decide to run away again."

"Fine," Duo agreed with a roll of his eyes.

-o-

End note: As requested by Downwardspiral, there WILL be another part of this - but from Zechs's POV. So… stay tuned I guess.


End file.
